Explosive facts have been revealed regarding an Indian government cover-up about 39 citizens being killed by ISIS terrorists. This information has been shared by none other than, the one and only survivor out of 40 Indian citizens who were abducted by ISIS almost a year ago. The story is shocking, and bound to spread anger among the relatives and families of the Indian citizens who were till now, said to be ‘alive and well’ under ISIS custody. The identity of the 40th hostage, who managed to escape from the clutches of ISIS militants, has been disclosed. He is a 25-year-old construction worker named Harjit Masih.

As narrated by Masih, around five days after they were taken hostage on June 15, 2014, ISIS abductors took them all up to a hilltop. The abductors then ordered them to line up, and shot all of them from behind. Masih said that he was hit on his right leg, and as he fell on the ground, he pretended to be dead. He said that he lay still at the spot till the ISIS militants left from there. He then ran to save his life. Masih said that he hopes and prays that somebody else could have survived like he did. However, the chances of that are bleak, he says, and it could only be a miracle if anyone out of the other 39 hostages was still alive. This is because he said that he remembers seeing all of them lay in a pool of blood, and none of them responded to his calls.

Masih said that for a few days after escaping, he stayed with a group of workers from Bangladesh, who had all come to Iraq for work. Then, he contacted the construction company where he was employed, which is based in Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Khurdistan. His employers then handed over Masih to the Indian Embassy. The Indian officials reportedly brought him to India, and for about two weeks, kept him in a safe house at an undisclosed location near New Delhi, the capital city of India. Masih was asked by the Indian officials to remain quite, and not share any information about the 39 other hostages. This is because the officials informed him that there was threat to his life from relatives and families of the other hostages.

It is obvious now that the Indian government wanted Masih to remain quite because the story about 39 Indian citizens being killed by ISIS militants would have been a huge jolt to the new government’s image of being strong-willed and not weak. Contrary to this report, the government has repeated a number of times that the 39 Indian citizens held hostage by ISIS are ‘alive and well.’

Masih finally spoke to media Thursday, May 14, 2015, from the residence of a Member of Parliament for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bhagwant Mann. The Indian agencies had kept Masih in custody since July last year and frequently changed his location. He said that he was allowed to return to his village home about a fortnight ago. The explosive revelation about an Indian government cover-up of ISIS militants killing 39 citizens, is bound to cause a furor in the Indian parliament after the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, returns from China. Modi is presently visiting China, and has continued his around the world tour paid by the Indian taxpayers, which included visits to the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, and a long list of nations.

The Indian External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, spoke to media after this news broke and the entire government apparatus went into damage control. She said that she does not believe Masih and his claims from the beginning, that the other 39 Indian citizens were killed by their ISIS captors. She said that she had met the families of the Indian nationals who are presently stranded in Iraq, and had elaborate discussions with them. She did not reveal as to what these discussions were about, and it comes across as a typical deflection tactic. She said that though Masih has claimed unequivocally that the 39 other hostages were killed by ISIS terrorists, India would continue searching for them.

Swaraj went on to say that she now has eight sources that are helping the government search for the 39 hostages, whereas there were only six sources earlier. She said that she feels that the eighth source can be trusted, and is a reliable one, and there would be no point in doubting her source. She argued that only Masih, has said that the hostages have been killed, while her other sources have all confirmed that they are alive. She seemed to completely disregard the fact that Masih was one of the abductees, and the only one who had escaped.

Swaraj had earlier claimed that there was a known threat to Masih, and that is why he had to be kept under custody. Masih however, said that he had no clue as to why the Indian government and agencies detained him for so long. Mann claimed that Masih was kept under custody as the expose was bound to cause embarrassment to the Indian government. He also said that it was done to protect the image of Prime Minister Modi who had just taken over in May 2014.

Mann went on to allege that since the information was delayed by almost a year, the government released Masih, as his revelations would be treated as stale news. Swaraj had even tried to be cheeky once in the Indian parliament by saying that Masih was with the Indian officials, but she had never claimed that he was in India. The explosive fact about the Indian government cover-up of ISIS killing 39 citizens is expected to cause a huge controversy.

By Ankur Sinha

Sources:
The Indian Express: Red faces in government after its ‘source’ claims he saw Islamic State kill 39 Indians in Iraq
Hindustan Times: Iraq survivor claims Islamic State militants killed 39 Indian hostages, govt says they’re alive
NewsBun: Delhi has a pinch of salt, bunch of spies